Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath

Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath was a documentary made by Valarie Kaur, that documented hate violence against the Sikh community after September 11. She drove across the country to interview scholars, lawyers and legislators about race, religion and security in post September 11 America. Despite the formal and calm nature of religion most major religions have a violent past. September 11 was a day that marked the reappearance of prejudice against Sikhs, Muslims and racist against brown people in America. It hit the Muslim community even harder because all the September 11 terrorists were Muslim, but many South Asians were being mistaken for Muslims because of the similarity in their features. The Sikhs were singled out by their turbans, which makes many immediately think of Osama bin Laden and his Taliban followers. In the movie, the first person Valarie Kaur interviewed in New York was Amrik Singh Chawla, who was a management consultant in the world trade center. On September 11 he was on his way to the world trade center, he noticed their was even more traffic than usual and many people were looking up so he stuck his head out the cab window and saw the North building on fire. He went as close as he could to the building, and in a corner he noticed a huge tire embedded in the cement. He didn’t quite figure out what happen at the time and seconds later he hears a noise and sees a plane that was going really fast and he tracked it going into the building. Soon after as he was crossing the street two men pointed at him and said “Hey you fucking terrorist take that turban off” he ignored the comment and continued walking and again he heard “you better take that turban off you terrorist” then they started to chase him, he ran to a subway station and got on a train. Even in the subway car he noticed that people were pointing and staring at him, so he went to the nearest hair salon and took his turban off and put it in his brief case. The turban to the Sikh religion symbolizes dedication, self-respect and love and obedience to the founder of their faith. To take off the turban was a sign of disrespect but many around the time had no choice because they were afraid. Many Sikhs stayed in doors and many left the area after hearing many threats and violence towards their community. Throughout the movie she interviewed many who have been a victims of violence, even an American was being threaten just by associating with an Arabic man. The first case of escalated violence that resulted in the death of a Sikh man occurred in Arizona. Balbir Sodhi was a gas station owner, he was targeted because he looked like a Middle Eastern man, and he was shoot five times in the back. Balbir Sodhi was a generous man who would helped others in need. His memorial service brought the community together. Many Jewish, Christians and Muslim people paid their respects at his funeral, about four thousand people turned up in the funeral. September 11 was not only just a tragedy, but it also built unity for many Americans, but that unity was also the reason there was a rise in hate crimes around the country. The Sikh community continues to have a bad image since the attacks that occurred on September 11 by Muslim terrorists. There are some parallels made to the Japanese Americans during World War II where they were treated as terrorists for what happened at Pearl Harbor. But in the following years there have been many efforts to help the image of the Sikh people. Educating younger people to not associate terrorism and religious icons such as turbans.

Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath. DVD. New Moon Production, 2008